Sri Lanka stand-in captain Lahiru Thirimanne reflects on draw

The match – Sri Lanka’s final warm-up before the first Test against England, which starts at Lord’s on Thursday – saw heavy rain make a result unlikely.

Thirimanne (156) and Kaushal Silva (152) showed promising signs as Sri Lanka amassed 558-8 in their first innings and Dhammika Prasad (4-68 off 15.1 overs) then impressed with the ball.

And although a result was not possible – Sri Lanka were 99-4 in their second innings when play came to a close on Sunday – Thirimanne, the nation’s Test vice-captain, felt they were plenty of positives to take.

“Batters had the chance to bat through the innings and the bowlers did well, because it was not a bowling-friendly wicket,” Thirimanne said.

“Dhammika bowled really well, (in) good areas and he bowled with some good pace.

“We have some experienced bowlers but we don’t have that extra pace.

“It’s really tough (in England) because this is the early summer and we haven’t had that much practice. We’ll expect some tough conditions in the Test matches.

“We have to take 20 wickets to win matches. That’s the main thing we have to work on.

“Confidence levels are really high. We haven’t had much luck in the past.

“We want to win a Test series here so that is the main concern. (The) boys are really confident.”

Prasad and Dilruwan Perera (4-92 off 31 overs) both pressed their claims for selection as Northamptonshire were bowled out for 345 in their only innings.

Rob Keogh made 120 for the English county side, while he also added 2-46 in Sri Lanka’s mammoth first innings total.